ACUHO-I News Blog

Forbes.com recently shared a list of the ten most expensive college dorms (their word, not mine) in the United States. Topping the list was Sarah Lawrence College in upstate New York, where room and board can cost in excess of $13,000 annually.  The article explains the competitive nature of campus housing, including the upgrades and outsourcing to private companies that many universities are utilizing to remain competitive.

Throughout my two years at Indiana University South Bend, our staff has been asked repeatedly to describe the add-value of the on-campus experience. With more than a dozen apartment complexes in a five-mile radius of campus (and no residency requirement to help fill our beds), we often have to remind ourselves that we are selling an experience rather than a product. For a low-cost living arrangement, we may not be the cheapest game in town. For higher levels of academic success, a supportive community, and connections to campus, we’re the only game in town. But that doesn’t always sway students and parents when they see our rates.

How do you articulate the add-value of your on-campus housing, particularly when asked to compare it with less expensive off-campus options?

Thanks to this economic slump (to put it mildly), construction of new buildings has slowed, after nearly stopping for a period. Thus, we haven’t had much about construction on here in a while. But we will surely build again, so it’s a good time to think about the topic in the abstract.

Here’s an essay considering if it’s absolutely essential to have all the buildings on a campus match each other. This is a long-running debate. There’s problems with doggedly following a single style and equal issues with allowing a sort of architectural anarchy to take over. The happy medium, however, is difficult to achieve, especially when time, money, expertise and hindsight are limited.

What’s your campus policy on architecture? Did anyone from housing have input on it? How has this impacted your buildings?

A few weeks ago, a post on dormitories vs. residence halls generated lots of interest. A story I found online made me think of a different sort of naming issue: When the name of a campus building–a residence hall, for example–belongs to someone whose viewpoints are less than savory. The University of Texas is one institution that’s facing this problem, but I’m sure they aren’t the only one. Simkins residence hall is named after William Stewart Simkins, a former University of Texas professor but also an enthusiastic Ku Klux Klan organizer and promoter. Some people on the campus feel the name should be changed. Others feel that while Simkins’ views on race were repellent, he is part of the university’s history and views such as his are part of the country’s history. Also, most students don’t know who William Stewart Simkins was; all they know is Simkins the residence hall. Have you faced this dilemma on your campus? How was it resolved?

PS: Simkins being mostly forgotten aside from the residence hall with his name made me think of this piece, by Percy Bysshe Shelley. (My inclusion of it here is not meant to malign the condition of Simkins residence hall or any other structures on the University of Texas campus!)

Ozymandias

I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
`My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!’
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

A member asked me if we knew of any institutions that had made specific accommodations for “emotional support animals.” I couldn’t find any institutions that had done so (let us know if you have), but I did find a number of policies on the subject. I’ve posted what I found (which is only a selection of what is out there). Most institutions only allow service animals to live on campus; i.e.: animals that have been trained to assist their masters in specific ways: seeing-eye dogs, mobility-impairment dogs (who can open doors and fetch dropped objects, among other tasks); hearing dogs and seizure alert dogs. In some cases, this list also specifically includes psychiatric service animals and social signal dogs, who support people with autism.

Generally, according to my research, emotional-support animals, which have not been trained for their tasks, but are emotionally supportive because that’s what animals provide for their owners, are not allowed on campus. The reasons are numerous; allergies, cleanliness (where does the litterbox go?), and the fact that a residence hall room isn’t the best place in which to confine a cat or dog. Emotional support animals are not covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act, so it isn’t legally necessary to provide them access.

What are your policies on this? Have you had any appeals? How did you handle them?

(more…)

Yay! Many thanks to Azfar Mian and the rest of the folks at the University of Florida information technology department for gathering and compiling the information.

Results of the salary survey can be sorted by country, state, position, and institution type (public vs. private).

Current salaries are reported for:

• Chief Housing Officer
• Chief Residence Life Officer
• Chief Administrative Officer
• Chief Business Officer
• Maintenance Operations Supervisor
• Custodial Operations Supervisor
• Assistant Director for Residence Life
• Coordinator for Academic Initiatives.

Base salaries are included for:

• Residence Director
• Area Coordinator
• Graduate Hall Director

What would it take to spur change? President Barack Obama spoke last week brilliantly about where he is hoping to take the nation. In his address he mentioned green jobs and our push toward becoming number one in the green sector. As I watched I thought this was brilliant another opportunity to push a vision. This vision is very aspirational when considering the size and consumption level of this wonderful country. However this is a great idea to pursue with implications towards a bright future.

After watching the speech I wanted to find other discussions or general information regarding green jobs on college campuses. Through a bit of Web surfing I pulled in a blog that highlights the discussion of green jobs. This particular blog did a great job of touching on the transition of brown to green jobs. I think it would be very interesting to see how campuses are creating these jobs and whether they are being fueled by green funding.

During the President’s address I pondered two questions:

Question #1-Have we reached the tipping point in regards to how green jobs are advertised? What I’m trying to say is in this economy are green jobs just jobs? I think we have moved passed the label far enough that we often do not notice the green unless its explicitly spelled out.

Question #2-How well do green positions fold into the housing and residential life organizational chart? In other words are green positions becoming stand alone positions or are they still seen as a collateral assignments for housing and residential life professionals?

Progress is good but with the current economy I could understand why there may be hesitation in reorganizing the organization and adding a position. However there is serious value in recruiting our incoming green students into our greening residential communities.  They will consume less. With this in mind it would be important to consider creatively positioning our organizations now to focus our efforts on attracting these students to live with us now and possibly work for us in the future.

This is my first blog contribution to the sustainability discussion/green movement. I have to admit that just typing this post feels fresh and green.

Hope to post more.

U.S. News & World Report recently released a story on the cost of housing for various colleges & universities. This story reports that when looking at the total cost of a school, the cost of housing should also be carefully examined. By looking at the cost and the amenities, families should be able to weigh their options with housing.  The story acknowledges various reasons for the discrepancies in prices around the country. These range from real estate costs to the type of housing provided (apartments, suites, etc.).

The story also acknowledges it is not only  amenities  such as fitness centers and computer labs that add value, but programmatic offerings such as living-learning communities. So, this makes me ask the question, should buildings with amenities such as faculty-in-residence and living-learning community cost more than residence halls without those amenities?  Can we put a monetary value on the residential experience itself? Should the bricks and mortar be the determining cost factor? What are your thoughts?

See the full story here.

Some community colleges, finding the paperwork and lines of orientation overwhelmed and irritated students, changed their venue for the annual event to the students’ homes. Now students complete some paperwork and reading from home before going to campus for the face-to-face part. See the story in Inside HigherEd.

Whitman College, located in the mightily-fun-to-say Walla Walla Washington, sends their incoming freshmen a box of sweet onions to welcome them to the community. We blogged about the issue of “summer melt” a few weeks ago; Wabash College attempts to staunch this by sending incoming freshmen t-shirts, then requesting the students post a picture of themselves wearing it. Does your institution send any gifts to freshmen over the summer to reinforce their college choice?

A Cornell University graduate student has written a paper making an argument that student services spending positively impacts retention and graduation rates. But we all knew that anyway, didn’t we? Now there’s proof.

Now is the time of year when things can melt away. Ice. Fudgesicles. Freshmen.

Institutions expect a certain amount of “summer melt” will occur, and slightly fewer freshmen will show up in the fall than those who have accepted admission to the institution. Likewise, some students who are assigned a residence hall room don’t appear at move-in.

To a certain point, a little melt is okay; institutions and housing departments plan around it. But colleges and universities are fearful that the fall 2009 term could end up looking like a Sno-Cone in August. So some are taking steps to keep as many of these freshmen as possible by keeping them engaged and connected to the school throughout the summer: Quizzes, social networking, check-in calls and t-shirts are among their strategies.